The present invention relates to shuttlecocks and more particularly, relates to shuttlecocks having adjustable weighting.
In the game of badminton, a well known problem with the shuttlecocks or "birds" is the variation in the flight speed of the shuttlecock. This variation is the result of many factors including the inherent characteristics of the bird, the temperature at the court, the humidity level, altitude, and the amount of time the bird has been in use. Particularly among the more skilled players, after a bird has been used for between 15-30 minutes, the "speed" of the bird increases beyond a level considered desirable.
In order to compensate for the above, it is common practice to attempt to alter the upper flight or flights of the bird to slow the speed of the bird. Understandably, this is a rather imprecise manner of adjusting the speed.
This problem has been known for a long time and for many years various proposals to provide for adjustable birds have been made. Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,116,304 to Crespin, a ring member is moved upwardly or downwardly to increase the diameter of the flights to thus change the characteristics thereof. A similar solution has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,262 to Buckland.
It is also known that adjusting the weight of the shuttlecock will affect the speed of the bird. Various means for adjusting the weight are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,059,930 to Booth; 2,093,301 to Bauer; and 2,192,180 to Collier.
While such proposals have been advanced in the art, none have received any great degree of commercial acceptance.